Digidesign Strike Review (Continued)

The Style page takes the aforementioned options and assigns them to the instruments that make up a Kit. This is perfect if you want a slightly lazy rim shot or variation in kick-drum dynamics. You can individually adjust complexity, intensity and timing, or quantize everything to a grid; the entire feel of a performance can be altered with a just a few clicks.

A lot of what makes a rhythm track stand out is how the drums are captured. Strike’s Mix page features a lot of options beyond just volume faders. Each instrument is equipped with close mics, overheads, and room mics with which to add and blend nuance. Engineers will love the fact that the bottom and top snare mics can be individually adjusted, and that the kick features three up-close mics. There’s even a talkback mic for extra color. You can also choose the type of mics you want. In short, there are almost too many choices.

In addition to mics, Strike features a decent batch of effects. Each channel is allotted two inserts and an EQ. Some effects are more useful than others, but this is to be expected. For instance, electronic musicians might not be satisfied with the level of sonic damage possible, but if you output your Strike channels to Pro Tools tracks, you can hit them with the hairier plug-ins in your arsenal.

Strike’s pattern-editing field comes in handy when you tire of the presets, which is bound to happen. I’m not likely to employ “boogaloo” on many tunes, but I might build on a few select elements from this preset. That’s where this page comes in handy. While it’s not the best drum-edit window I’ve ever seen (that distinction belongs to Fxpansion’s Guru), it allows for relatively quick adjustments to timing, placement and velocity. It’s not unlike MIDI editing, but less laborious. And it’s all easy to figure out, even without the manual.

The sounds themselves are generally excellent, with cymbals being the exception. The Main page features a knob that controls the degree to which the hi-hat is open, but I had difficulty finding a convincing setting. In addition, the crashes didn’t sit well in the mix, sounding a bit pasted on. Maybe they just needed more tweaking.

MIDI hounds will be glad to know that Strike has a built in learn function for mapping to other devices. In Kit mode, you can knock out your own beats via MIDI channel 2 directly onto the record-enabled Strike instrument track in Pro Tools. I also was impressed with the ease of transferring MIDI data: Simply click “export MIDI,” drag the button into the edit window, and individual MIDI instrument tracks are created in your session.

Conclusion

Strike represents a quantum leap for Digidesign’s plug-in department. It has a great GUI, stable build, and comprehensive features. It might not make users of other digital audio solutions abandon their platforms, but it’s sure to wow Pro Tools’ many patrons. There’s hardly any learning curve, and nearly all of Strike’s features are quick and fun to use. The only real downside is the somewhat limited library. I’m hoping the company will continue to invest in this product with add-ons. If it does, Strike will no doubt be an unqualified hit.

Casey Rea

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